Vedic Indian Character Designs: Kali & Naga

Haahn

Wanted to share my progress based on an University brief given by a concept artist of Creative Assembly. The task is to create a Character, Creature and an Environment Piece based on Vedic Indian Mythology.

Here is my Kali Design

 

Haahn

I also finished my designs for the Naga Creature. It was super fun working on this one! Will work on the Environment piece next.

Alex_J

awesome designs. I want to turn them into 3d. nice balance overall. Lots of detail but very clear and readable.

Haahn

BIGTIMEMASTER said:

awesome designs. I want to turn them into 3d. nice balance overall. Lots of detail but very clear and readable.

Thank you! That would be cool to see

Thaiauxn

Yeah, i agree These are excellent 3D art inspirations. The simplicity and flat tones are perfect for braking down tasks into simple workflow paths.

Alex_J

oh shit, glad you bumped this. I actually just started making a 3d model of Kali, which is the concept Haahn has made in the OP.... so I spent some time studying this interpretation, thinking about if I might work directly from it.. which I think can lead me in to some more in depth critiques. Well, not really critiques, more just some personal reasons why I think other depictions of Kali are a little better. I'm not expert, just a white dude in alaska, but my wife is Indian, and my parents in-law are pretty familiar with this stuff.

To me the main detractors are in authenticity and tradition. This depiction feels more Thai than Dravidian, which is where Kali originates from (well, it's supposed. Hinduism is an amalgam of many cultures throughout time, but blue-skin is thought to represent the dark-skinned Dravidian's, who had control of the subcontinent until the Aryans took the north).

In terms of her outfit, color scheme, and even to some degree her body type, this just has a little more of a thai or southeast asian flare. This is very much generalization, but South Indian body types tend to have longer legs, wide hips, short upper body, and body fat stores predominantly in hips. Now, I don't think that's something you have to adhere to but it could lend a little more authenticity, even if most people don't really pick up on it.

Second, this Kali feels a bit anime-like. Sort of PG-13. Which is totally fine if that's the target, but traditional Kali is a bloodthirsty, extremely morbid monster of a goddess. Most depictions feature a necklace of severed heads, skirt of severed arms, crazy-fearsome eyes-bugging out war scream.... she's intense! Many of the Hindu Gods are exceedingly grim, gruesome, and just downright terrifying. There is tons of room to play as being such an ancient deity you can ask ten people and get ten different answers to what weapons and clothes she has and what they mean, which I'd hesitate to say anything about this depiction is wrong... it just isn't in keeping with the parts of the character that I find interesting is all.

So, all that is not a dig on the artwork at all. I am in full agreement with @Thaiauxn that this is very neatly composed and excellent for the 3d artist to work from. It's just a flavor and style I feel is a little too modern and toned down for my taste.